Fluttering
by Queen Annie-Ferny's Calling
Summary: The real reason Ashfur betrayed the Clan and helped Hawkfrost? The dark tabby tom was threatening his love. ::CRACK: Ashfur x ?::


**Fluttering**

**Disclaimer: What do you want me to say, that I'm Erin Hunter? Pssh. **

**So...here's how it works.**

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**One day, Annie feels like typing. She gets on her laptop and does a quick paragraph, drabble-style. A pwnsome crack pairing jumps into her mind, and instantly she knows what to do. So she writes this oneshot.**

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**I did this in a matter of hours, I'm not expecting it to be OMFG totally amazing. I'm quite sure it's riddled with typos and errors...typing quickly is not my strength. However, if you see a mistake, please point it out. I'll most likely rewrite this, one day. Perhaps when I'm not so insanely busy. **

**Meanwhile, I just lurve the shipping...**

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Cast below a hazy moon, the bushes rustled. Their spindly shadows quivered wildly over the mossy forest floor, though there was no breeze. A lithe silhouette emerged just then, stepping warily from the veil of darkness, a pair of gleaming orbs the colour of the rushing river seemingly appearing out of nowhere. They flickered nervously from tree to tree as the cat sat down, wrapping its tail over its paws for warmth.

A slight wind ruffled the cat's speckled grey fur, sending shivers down his spine. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end; his wide eyes desperately searched the undergrowth, but there was nothing there.

His throat was tense and caked with phlegm. Maybe meeting tonight had been a bad idea...but, no! How could he think that? He had to see her, could not be without her.

As heartbeats slowly passed, his limbs grew tense. He had been crouching in the same position for longer than he dared to keep track of, and he ached to move.

His head swivelled abruptly around as something shifted behind him, every muscle in his body clenched. He swallowed hard, trying to force the thick liquid from his mouth, but his meow came out hoarse.

"M-Mothwing? I-is that you, love?"

There was nothing for a moment; the whole forest was still. Then a quiet mew, full of many passive emotions, answered back. He could not put his paw on all of them, but he thought he picked out pain and terror.

"Yes, Ashfur, it's me. It's Mothwing."

The grey tom breathed a deep sigh of relief, and he felt lighter, more relaxed. Moving out from the blackness into the middle of the tiny clearing, his gaze softened.

"Thank goodness, you've kept me waiting a long time. Where are you? Come out so I can see you."

A shudder passed through the surrounding trees, long and deep, like a newborn kit taking its first breath.

Jagged chips of ice emerged from the leaves, and, as they maneuvered further into the open hollow, the muscular figure they were set into was revealed.

Ashfur gasped.

Hawkfrost stalked forward defiantly, his teeth fastened fiercely into the scruff of a beautiful she-cat. Her long golden pelt was dappled with hundred of shades of tawny-brown, her tail thick and striped. As the dark tabby warrior continued to jerk her forward, she dug her long, curved claws into the ground and tried uselessly to withstand him, letting out high-pitched squeaks of pain all the while. She refused to meet Ashfur's horrified gaze: instead, she fixed her glittering amber eyes on the ground.

"Mothwing!" The grey tomcat's horrified yowl rose above the quiet of the night, cutting through the eerie silence. His mind was screaming at him to do something, to rush and plunge his fangs into Hawkfrost's fur and save the she-cat he had pledged his love to oh-so-many moons ago, but his body would not react.

Heartbeats passed, and the three felines stayed hushed: the single she-cat continued to stare at the ground, wincing every now and then as the sharp pieces stabbing into the back of her neck bit down harder; the two toms stood across from each other, eyes locked, one a tenderhearted, apprehension-filled sky, the other a cold, fierce azure. A double dose of blue, yet two completely opposite emotions reflected in each.

At last, the pair that did not look so forgiving flickered a bit. A voice that was violent, yet, at the same time, strangely calm, erupted from the dark pit of space beneath them.

"Hello, Ashfur. I believe you know me. My name is Hawkfrost, and I have come here to ask a favour of you. Actually, it's not really a favour, if you want to get technical...it's more like a super-imposed demand that equals death if you don't agree. So, how about it? Will you even attempt to cooperate with me?"

There was smooth silkiness to his voice, like friendliness covering up bitter malice, that made Ashfur shrink back against the ground, eyes wide.

The grey warrior's gaze darted back to that of the rippling she-cat, and he saw with a wave of relief that she had finally raised her head to look back at him. But the feeling was quickly blown over when he caught sight of the look in his mate's eyes: they were full of horror, brimming with agony, and wrenched with undeniable torture. Almost unconsciously, he took a step forward, only to be thrown to the ground, a stinging soreness on the side of his skull. Raising his head dizzily, he saw Hawkfrost standing over him, blue eyes glaring: the brown tom had foreseen the action and hit him with a quick blow to the head.

"Don't," he snarled, putting pressure on particular words, "even think about touching my sister, you slimy grey earthworm. _Why_ she would ever want to mate with _you_, to _love_ you, is beyond my knowledge. Still, there _is_ one good thing that came out of your...relationship. Because of it, oh, _goody_, I get to hold her hostage! So, ThunderClan idiot, listen up and listen well, or else you die. Got it?"

Ashfur, terrified to do anything more, nodded once, a quick bob of his head, and managed to mew out, "yes."

Hawkfrost's eyes stayed narrowed, but he dipped his head curtly. "Good; I'm glad we've reached an understanding. Now, then, Ashfur, this is what you must do..."

Ashfur listened, rigid with a mixture of shock and fascination, as the brown tabby before him spun a plot. It was a marvelous, miraculous plot of how, with his spirit-father at his side, he would be the all-powerful ruler of TigerClan. There would be one Clan, and with the fall of the original four would also come the wiping out of all those despicable, half-blood nobodies. No cat would dare mess with them, the prowlers of the forest, hunters of stealth, fighters of might.

Enchanted by this magical dream, the speckled cat leaned in closer without even realizing it, ears pricked and alert. How amazing it would be...

The speaker took a heartbeat to take a breath, and Ashfur broke in.

"B-but, Hawkfrost, how would you ever achieve this? The Clans have lived separately for more moons than you could count; what in StarClan's name would get them to merge like this?"

The corners of Hawkfrost's lips curled up in a twisted grin, and his voice was merely a whisper when he spoke again.

"Oh, but don't you see? This, my friend, is where _you _come in! Yes, this is where I ask my little, er, _favour_...I need you to kill Firestar."

The loudness of the gasp that escaped Ashfur was nothing next to the booming of the thudding that had erupted in his head. _Kill_ Firestar? He couldn't!

The ginger tom had always been good to him, wise and kind and understanding. He remembered how, when Ashfur's mother, Brindleface, had been killed, Firestar had sympathized and let him and his sister, Ferncloud, start the relay in the run with the dogs to avenge her death. He knew what family meant, had watched as Ashpaw had trained for many moons, been the very one to give his warrior ceremony, granted him the status of a senior warrior, given him an apprentice, Birchfall. How could he kill him?

He realized his mouth had been hanging agape; he closed it and his teeth came together with a audible _snap_. Hawkfrost looked on coolly, blue gaze full of contempt.

"Well?" His tone matched his expression.

Confusion scored through Ashfur's voice. "I-I don't know, Hawkfrost...how can I kill my leader?"

The tabby snarled something that sounded rather like "_weakling_" under his breath, then spun around without warning and launched himself at Mothwing, who had been cowering behind him. Effortlessly he pinned her to the ground, her fur sprinkled with dust and moss.

"No! No, Hawkfrost, what are you doing? She's your sister!"

Ignoring the grey tom, the brown warrior raised his forepaw and unsheathed his claws so that the pearly spikes glittered in the moonlight that trickled through the trees. He held it there, suspended mere mouse-lengths above Mothwing's throat. Beneath her brother's firm grasp, she squirmed uselessly and let out a shriek of anguish. Disregarding her, Hawkfrost dropped his paw dramatically, so that it hovered just above the thick fur. Ashfur felt the breath leave his lungs with a _whoosh_.

Hawkfrost glared at him. "You want to know how you can kill your leader? Well, how's about this...if you don't kill Firestar, I'll kill your dear little Mothwing here, how does that sound? Fair enough for you?"

The golden medicine cat met Ashfur's stricken gaze, and it crippled him to see the wretchedness in her beautiful amber eyes.

"Yes, of course. It's very fair." His mew was defeated, barren: he had no choice and he knew it.

As if he'd read the grey cat's mind, Hawkfrost snorted. "Excellent. Now, because I'm just so amazingly wonderful, I'll give you two lovebirds some time together...you know, to collect your thoughts, share opinions..." A smirk flashed across his face. "But, remember, I'll be right here, watching, listening...don't try anything stupid, you hear me?"

Ashfur nodded , and Hawkfrost sighed. "Very well, then. You," he jerked his head toward his sister, "get over here." Mothwing heaved herself up from where she had been cringing against the leaves on the ground and made her way unsteadily over to where her brother and mate stood nose to nose. Hawkfrost made a sound in his throat before he moved away into the shadows.

The moment he was gone, Mothwing threw herself at Ashfur and buried her face in his pelt. Tearless sobs wrenched themselves uncontrollably from her chest; the ThunderClan warrior swept his tail around to stroke her shoulder gently and found that he was shaking, too.

"Oh, Ashfur," she wailed, not bothering to try and keep her voice low, "I'm so sorry! This shouldn't be happening, you shouldn't have to do this, not for me, not for us, or--"

"Shh," he soothed, though the mewed words cracked a little, "don't ever say that. I love you, Mothwing, I love you all my heart. You know that. Our Clan boundaries have meant nothing; your being a medicine cat has never done anything to our relationship. Mothwing, my beloved, if I have to do away with Firestar to keep us together...well, then, so be it. Nothing can stop us, nothing."

Her meow dropped to a whisper. "It doesn't matter. I love you, too, but it doesn't matter. Ashfur, it's not what you--"

He interrupted her just then, gently but firmly. "Mothwing, you know as well as I do exactly what will happen if I refuse to do what your...your _brother_ asks."

Simultaneously, they both glanced into the dark treeline, where two icy eyes scrutinized their every action. They blinked, and were gone: rustling noises could be heard as somecat maneuvered through the undergrowth. Mothwing hesitated, then bowed her head and pressed her pelt against her mate's.

"Yes, I know. Don't under-estimate him, Ashfur: don't ever under-estimate my brother. He inherited his ambition from our father, and now it's gotten the better of him." There was a short pause. "Yes, I know that, if you decline, he'll kill me. He will."

Ashfur tensed, automatically drawing her closer with his tail. "That will never happen. I would not allow it. I'll do whatever it takes to have you in my life...and that includes murdering my Clan leader."

He stole another peek at the trees, and faintly saw a tabby figure beginning to emerge, sauntering swiftly towards them: their "time" together was running out. He turned back to Mothwing, a new urgency in his tone. "Listen, Mothwing, don't worry. I promise to you, everything will be fine. I'll do everything Hawkfrost says to keep you safe, don't you dare doubt that. Stay away from him, stay away from your brother, okay? He's dangerous, you must know that. Keep apart from him, don't talk to him, don't let him convince you do to anything..." The grey tom was babbling like a stupid kit, and he clamped his jaws shut. Stretching forward, he leaned in to give his mate a tender lick between her ears, then proceeded to rest his muzzle against her dappled forehead.

"I love you, Mothwing..."

The speckled cat was knocked of his paws by the weight behind the unsheathed blow that caught him just below the ear. He was thrown to the ground, limbs splayed, a stinging sensation spreading across his temple like blood gushing from an open wound. Head spinning, he blearily opened his eyes to see Hawkfrost standing over him, the full force of his eyes unleashed.

The RiverClan warrior raked long claws down the length of Ashfur's flank; beads of blood appeared immediately, seeping through the grey fur and releasing a rancid odour into the still night air.

"Stay far from my sister, you ugly piece of rotting foxdung. No daughter of Tigerstar should be with such crowfood as you. You disgust me."

He twisted to dig his teeth into the back of Mothwing's neck again, effortlessly hoisting her up like she was a kit, though he was nowhere near as gentle as a queen with be with her offspring. Hauling her away across the forest floor, Hawkfrost paused only once to spit through a mouthful of fur, "come back here tomorrow night, ThunderClan scum, and I'll tell you the precise details of what you must do. And if you decide to _not_ come? Well, I'll let you find that out for yourself."

Mothwing's screams of affliction and misery were swallowed up by the blackness of the night.

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**There we are, nice 'n' easy. I think it ended fairly well. **

**Just to make this clear: this is NOT what I believe happened, as it's totally crack and very unlikely. It's just an opinion of what MIGHT have occurred, even though it obviously wouldn't have... I'm confusing you, I know. I do that a lot. Suck it up.**

**Now...review and let me know what you thought of it!**

**--Queen Annie - Merely a Trifle**


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